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It was hard to know how seriously to take the new two track single from Curezum, they a black metal tribute band to The Cure, and almost too easy to dismiss it without a chance. But everything deserves a piece of attention and as band and release provided a thoroughly potent and enjoyable time, thankfully we did give it some. It is probably fair to say that the single is not going to ignite major fires yet there is no escaping the highly persuasive and compelling job the band did with two particularly well known and for some revered tracks. Its success also shows how thin the veils between genres are at times when given a twist and infusion here and there.

The project began with lead guitarist/keyboardist Mort Subite (Megaton Leviathan, Vaital Deul, Alfheimr) and drummer Martti Hill (Barrowlands), the band finding themselves united in imagining the relative simplicity of taking The Cure’s album Pornography and re-imagining it as a black metal proposition. It is probably fair to say that the Brits are an obvious inspiration and love for the pair too which only added to their enthusiasm to push the project forward. A search for the right musicians to help bring their idea to light and demands of the pair’s other projects took up plenty of the following time but eventfully a linkup with Billy Anderson (Blessing the Hogs, Porn, Solodolor) for additional production duties happened, he also providing bass on the single, with vocalist/rhythm guitarist Rob Vikernes completing the line-up.

The opening track to Pornography, One Hundred Years attaches itself to ears and an awaiting appetite with swiftly hypnotic rhythmic bait, its lure the spring board to recognisable acidic melodies and similarly potent hooks. Straight away though, the raw and almost insidious tone of the track provides a welcome but invasive quality, the guitars great abrasing irritancy against the dark seductive lure of the bass. The scarred and magnetic tones of vocalist Vikernes only add to the harshly tempestuous nature of the track too, the band soaking the atmospheric shadows and elegance of the song with their own pestilential hue.

It has to be said that the version is outstanding, a close rival to the original and able to stand alone as Curezum, not quite making it their own, give it a potent character change without losing the dark melancholic majesty of the original. The same applies to the other side of the single, The Top. Obviously taken from the album of the same name, this song also finds its familiar tones and essences infused with fiercer predacious intrigue and toxicity. Crawling over the senses, the song is cancerous, like creeping smog of venom guided by a prowling rhythmic contagion amidst a web of corrosive emotion and enterprise; the vocals the demonic heart at the centre of it all.

Whereas One Hundred Years holds on to some of its original virulence, its companion is a festering sore of pleasure becoming more intrusive and gripping over time. Both tracks are surprising treats, quickly devouring any doubts before venturing into the single’s cavern of dark ravenous delight. Curezum is currently working on a whole album of such enticements and after this, anticipation is definitely lively.

One Hundred Years/The Top is released digitally on November 28th with a physical release to come.

It has been twelve years since the release of their debut album, a period where Brazilian death metallers Pathologic Noise, certainly outside of their homeland’s underground scene, has been a big miss for some and, easy to suspect, a secret to a great many more. We can tell you what consumed the band’s creativity since that release but however the band spent the time, musically they have honed and re-energised their striking style of splatter death metal to invigorating effect. Evidence comes with second full- length Gore Aberration, a carnivorous violation of a savaging as thick in addictiveness as it is brutality.

Bred in Belo Horizonte, Pathologic Noise emerged in 1992 and took little time in making their mark upon the local and in turn Brazilian underground scene. First impressions and successes were reinforced by a trio of demos between 1995 and 2001, with debut album Sodomy and Delight on Flesh awakening broader attention and appetites with its release in 2003. As mentioned earlier, the time for the band between that well-received release and Gore Aberration is a mystery but fair to say it was well spent as Pathologic Noise return more creatively vicious, sonically bloodied, and intrusively potent. Major surprises are maybe a lesser factor within their latest album, yet there is stirring freshness oozing from every raw pore of its virulent contagion, which alone helps make Gore Aberration one of the most enjoyable genre releases this year.

The release opens with Never Ending Blood’n Hate, and an immediate entanglement of spicy grooves aligned to barbarous rhythms. Driven by a ravenous intensity and intent, the track is an uncompromising proposition, especially once the insidious vocal presence, led by bassist Tchescko Suppurator, lays its great toxic tones on the reins of the punishing incitement. With searing enterprise further spun from the guitars of César Pessoa and Claydson Melo, the opener sets the scene and tone of the album whilst igniting the imagination and a quickly greedy appetite.

It is a thrilling start matched by the even heavier footed and predatory Sexual Murder. Rhythmically though drummer L. Muratchas is a more considered protagonist, only unleashing his full venom once the guitars spew tendrils of heavy metal resourcefulness and sonic drama. It is the full-on chewing of the senses through riffs where the song excels especially but fair to say that every second is a thickly enticing lure, emulated and intensified by Pathologic Metal Vision. Again riffs and very often grooves too, descend and nag the senses and psyche like a drill bit on flesh, the merciless torrent of rhythmic barbarity working like a psychotic jackhammer simultaneously. It is a merger reaping havoc across the whole of Gore Aberration and especially torrential and pleasing on the third track.

Master of Suffering flings an infection of rock ‘n’ roll at ears straight way within its instant tempest of sound and attitude, that virulence twisted into a sonic stalking and vocal causticity soon after. The track persistently evolves as an array of imaginative ideas throw temptation into the mix, leading to a great bedlamic but skilfully ordered stomp that employs all ingredients again and again to rousing success.

That psychotic tapestry of sound is never far from the surface of any song within Gore Aberration, always bubbling near if not on the surface as in Bloody Deliriums, a carnal furor firing up an incendiary violation littered with rabid grooves and crippling rhythms, Bass and drums maybe at their most primal and savage here but equally in the following Lights on the Dark Sky. The track is physical and emotional rabidity, a corrosive onslaught but equally a scavenger feeding on bruised senses and through grooves which prey on the imagination as tempestuous rhythms ebb and flow in uncompromising hostility whilst a vocal trespass roams the violent maze of sound with demonic intent.

Pathologic Noise never lower their animus of sound and emotion with the album closing just as sadistic and punishingly insatiable as it had been up to the point of closing pair, Calling with the Deads and War Lust (Queen of Carnal Pleasures), and as cruelly catchy. The first of the final pair roams the senses with a piercing sonic resourcefulness and a wanton rhythmic and riff loaded premise as wild as it is nastily concentrated whilst its successor simply smothers the listener in suffocating intensity amidst a brutal scourge of sound, both tracks thrilling ears and inciting thick pleasure.

Spewing a sound easy to liken to bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, and Morbid Angel, as many have, Pathologic Noise might not be re-inventing the wheel with Gore Aberration but certainly shows all how great and hungry death metal can really get the body and passions going.

Founded back in 1990 by vocalist/guitarist Cezar, extreme metallers Christ Agony have a pedigree and armoury of well-received and acclaimed releases which alone makes the band’s upcoming ninth album, scheduled for release next year, a highly anticipated proposal. Add new three track EP Black Blood as a teaser, or in the words of its press release, ‘the harbinger’ of that impending release, and it is easy to see Christ Agony once again being a highly talked of incitement within black and doom bred metal.

The Black Blood EP is described as Christ Agony returning back to its roots, taking the inspiration of the dark 90’s and the period of their acclaimed 1996 album Moonlight – Act III to its creative breast. Cezar has called the release, “the circle of the wheels of time is complete… the black blood of the universe pumps the venom in the infernal veins”, and there is no escaping the potent and ripe essences of the band’s past bringing rich hues to their new and fresh exploration of sound and senses.

Recorded at Studio 666, the EP opens with Black Blood Universe, swiftly engaging ears and imagination in a thick doomy swamp of intrusive black and death metal lit by celestial harmonies and a shadowy clean vocal delivery around the insidious intrusive squalls of Cezar. Thumping beats from drummer Darek drive a torrent of bracing riffs cored by the predatory stalking of Reyash’s bass, their rabid union a tempering contrast but equally incendiary incitement to the melodic toxicity and mellow atmospheric charm of the demonically rousing encounter.

The track intimidates, invades, and seduces body and emotions with equal measure and success, leaving a lingering imprint even as Coronation saunters in with its own sinister swing and rapacious character and sound. Rhythms entice as guitars provide a scourge of scarring riffs and infectious grooves, the bass lying between the two in its bait as the track increasingly lures and grips the imagination, especially when a melodic dance frees itself from the intensive shadows to weave a magnetic web of enterprise courted by the increasingly carnivorous tone and prowl of the bass. The song is a forcibly gripping offering, only tightening its hold on appetite and pleasure with every passing twist of ideation and trespassing lick of insidious sound towards warmly haunting caresses.

The release is completed by Kingdom Ov Abyss, a track swiftly enslaving attention through its rugged rock ‘n’ roll of riffs and hooks within another blanket of emotive intensity. The invasive tones of Cezar again invite as they spew their rancor into the veins of the senses but it is the arousal of pleasure ignited by the belly of rock ‘n’ roll at the heart of the creative and emotive animus that triggers an unavoidable lustful appetite for the song.

If Black Blood is the true hint of the next Christ Agony album than further thick acclaim is heading the way of Cezar and co; more to add to that sure to be provoked by this excellent EP.

Having been won over by the third album Prophetae from Polish black metal project Primal, the sending over of the band’s first full-length Deathzone just meant we had to take a swift look. Unsurprisingly the album compared to the later release is less defined in its savage yet alluring soundscapes with a more caustic rawness fuelling the ravenous atmospheres and pestilential enterprise uncaged, yet the intrusive imagination and stark confrontational tempestuousness which equally made Prophetae stand out, are already a strongly brewing temptation within Deathzone.

Formed in 2008, Primal is the solo project of Warsaw musician/songwriter PrimalOne. Before the 2011 release of Deathzone he had released a couple of demos in the shape of Ominous Deity and a self-titled EP, both in 2010, and been part of Chapel of Fear, a split release with Iugulatus and Deep Desolation a year later. Post the debut album, 2012 saw the release of two albums in Prorok and Obłęd as well as the Duch EP with another EP called Matka Noc coming out, along with Prophetae, the following year; latest album Muzyka żałobna getting its release in 2014.

Deathzone opens with the magnetic and haunting entrance of Angel’s Hatred, its sinister coaxing soon a boiling cauldron of vocal enmity and sonic tempestuousness driven by barbarous rhythms. As has become expected in a Primal release, unpredictability enjoyably afflicts the attack and invention of the song, a strength just as ripe on this first full-length as in later encounters. Predatory and tantalising, the track is a stirring start to Deathzone with its blackened infestation of varied metal bred flavours, and matched in creative kind by the savage and nagging trespass on the senses of Wrath of the God. The guttural insidious texture of PrimalOne’s vocals is perpetual spite, inflaming and tempering the searing ebb and flow of sonic enterprise and melodic toxicity as guitars virtually stalk the imagination with dark ravenous rhythms in tow.

Across the album some striking guitar solos are offered by guest Markiz, the second track at times a cauldron of his craft as too moments within the bestial air and body of the album’s title track. At times the coherency of the blazing exploits of Markiz with the cavernous and tenebrific sound and heart of the song are less than polished, but constantly the combination is accomplished and gripping throughout the whole of Deathzone, song and album.

A flirtation of an instrumental allows a taking of breath before Book of Revelation crawls menacingly and intriguingly into the imagination. Its steely tendrils and winy sonic endeavour is a riveting spicing and lead into to the track’s immersive and addictively inhospitable maelstrom, a successful ravishment in many ways breeding the following demonic smog posing as The Prophecy, an incitement of torment beleaguered wails around a satanic narrator, which in turn makes way for Liars and its compelling dark hearted canter of ruinous intent crafted into virulent predation fuelled rock ‘n’ roll.

Completed by the raw, almost apocalyptic landscape and turbulence of Son of the Morning, a song which gets harsher and more vicious with each passing of its nine minutes, and more riveting, Deathzone is a powerful encounter which now viewed retrospectively reveals many of the ingredients and strengths which made Prophetae, our introduction to Primal, a thoroughly enjoyable and stirring release. Deathzone is also an album which grows with each listen to stand on its own as a worthy proposal for closer attention.

Perihelion is a Hungarian quartet who conjures a raw and invasive post /avant-garde metal merged sound. Fair to say there is more to that core recipe too, a blackened essence and punkish spicing amongst the flavours uniting in the band’s stirring second album Zeng. As atmospherically and sonically immersive as it is emotionally and physically intrusive, the eight track encounter provides a formidable and highly enjoyable confrontation easy to recommend others take a listen to.

Perihelion formed in 2012 and quickly worked on and released their self-titled debut album. In 2014 the Nap fele néz EP was unleashed, it stirring up stronger attention and now it is the turn of the highly provocative and creatively magnetic Zen to provide its proposal in an encounter sung in the band’s own mother tongue whilst inciting the imagination into action with dynamic ease.

The album opens on the atmospherically stark and beauteous instrumental landscape of Tündöklés, its chilled air and sinister nature an enthralling and increasingly imposing scene setter which swoops into the following explosive entrance of Vég se hozza el. From its first breath, the track is a torrent of riffs and barbarous rhythms driven by the snarling clean tones of guitarist/vocalist Gyula Vasvári. Rich in punk antagonism and energy, the track makes a forceful and thrilling entrance, remaining as potent as it subsequently drifts into post metal ambiences drifting across cold landscapes. The guitars of Krisztián Szabados and Vasvári continue to weave a suggestive and dramatic tapestry of evocative temptation, their sculpting matching the ever evolving tempestuous climate and raw rapacious heart of the song to great success.

The pair of tracks provides a fine start to Zeng which continues just as powerfully through Felemészt a tér. Roaring around the skeletal frame of pungent beats swung by drummer Barna Katonka, the track is a maelstrom of intensity and emotion perfectly tempered by the throaty tempting of Balázs Hubicska’s bass and the squalling and enterprising winds of guitar aggression and enterprise. Short tangy grooves, gripping hooks, and melodic tenacity all emerge within the body of another blaze which twist, turns, and evolves with each passing minute, the exploration of black metal malevolence as appealing as the progressive tenacity around it.

With only the fade-out a slight niggle, always a personal bugbear, the song makes way for the nostril flared canter of Végtelen kék. Like previous songs it goes for the jugular from the off but is soon unveiling new pastures of flavouring and imagination within an undulating soundscape, again warm coaxing embroiled in ferocious consumption of the senses and demanding savagery infused with contagious melodic and harmonic invention. As all great releases, numerous plays bring deeper and richer discoveries and rewards, song and Zeng as a whole no exception, nor indeed the quickly persuasive Égrengető. From its first rhythmic dance and post punk honed bassline within an elegant ambience, the song has ears and appetite gripped, never loosening its lure as guitars slip provocatively across ears with sonic radiance whilst the impressing vocals of Vasvári unveil a lyrical adventure which, though unfortunately we could not explore due to linguistic failings, has a heart easy to interpret at many times.

Emerging from the piercing sonic spirit of its predecessor, Űzött descends on ears and thoughts with a sense of celestial vastness and emotional intimacy. Within this a doom bred monotony also adds to the challenging erosive atmosphere and magnetic intrusion cast, the song absorbing on the way to a momentary silence between songs as provocative as the sounds before it and of Hajad szél which floats in on melodic radiance and infectious endeavour. The song keeps satisfaction full if without reaching the creative and persuasive heights of earlier tracks but again each listen reveals new elements and layers to be bound up in al the same.

The volatile Széthulló színek brings Zeng to a close, its agitated energy and charge amidst an open fury a thrilling rock ‘n’ roll bellow which as now expectedly grows and stretches into fresh creative scenery and imagination rich craft. It is potent end to a release which as stated earlier just grows in strength and potency with every involvement. Perihelion is a band easy to get a healthy appetite for, they and a creative journey with the potential of even bigger, bolder exploits ahead rearing in expectations.

An album impossible to fully digest on the first listen, second, and indeed even a few more, Felix Culpa still quickly emerges as one richly fascinating and perpetually tempting proposition. The creation of US based Dalla Nebbia; it is a compelling assault of extreme metal and imagination. The band’s sound is loosely tagged as atmospheric black metal but as Felix Culpa soon reveals, it openly embraces provocative strains of progressive rock and doom metal to present something testing and uniquely enthralling.

Dalla Nebbia first emerged in 2010 as a duo, and now is a quartet with three members living in N Carolina, Minnesota, and Washington, and a fourth with Brazil as a home. Inspirations include music and invention produced by bands such as Agalloch, Nachtmystium, Limbonic Art, and Arcturus, the foursome taking these into their own extensive and epic weaves of emotional and sonic drama. The successor to debut album The Cusp of the Void, it the bringing together of the band’s first demo and self-released EP Thy Pale Form, the ten track Felix Culpa sees the band breaching new depths and levels of imagination and craft. Its premise is a dive into the human psyche, in the words of the band, “a journey through decay and regret, death and suicide, and thorny despair at the hands of an angry god” and its voice a challenge to find a wealth of corruptive pleasure in.

Featuring Norwegian violinist Sareeta (Borknagar, Solefald, Asmegin) across most songs on the album and guest guitarist Aort (Code, Indesinence) on a couple of tracks, Felix Culpa opens with the brief instrumental Memento Mori; the synth and guitar craft of Yixja a swift and entrancing immersion for ears and thoughts. Warm yet feeling more like the lull before the storm even with the magnetic lures of violin, the piece leads the listener straight into the tempest of Until the Rain Subsides, though that too initially has a restraint and gothic invitation that only entices. The raw vocal squalls of Zduhać add to the thick atmosphere and brewing imposing air of the song even with both being tempered by the captivating harmonies that rise within the melancholic beauty of Sareeta’s strings. Ravenous and seductive in equal measure, blackened voracity and progressive calm colluding in a controlled band unpredictable maelstrom, the song makes an impressive full welcome into Felix Culpa.

The more rabid Abandoned Unto Sky takes over next, the brutal drumming of Alkurion a quick violation forging a punishing union with raw unrelenting riffs. In time though, as the bass of Tiphareth spills its own animus on proceedings, song and band infect the storm with melodic and emotive enterprise whilst managing to simultaneously intensify the ruinous nature of the track. Every moment has something within something else, layers within layers, textures revealing their own personal breakdown of essences as the song evolves and twists on its rancorous spine. Growing more riveting and thrilling in its second half, the song epitomises the album as a whole, each minute a bounty of imaginative turns and detours seamlessly woven into fierce tapestries that with every listen unveil new treasures.

Both Lament of Aokigahara and The Banner of Defiance keep ears and emotions aflame, the first from a portentous coaxing venturing into a dank incantation like crawl through smothering intensity and ambience with volatile invention and beauty respectively. Guitars entwine with keys, synths with the melodic incitement of the violin, and rhythms in tender and barbarous skill framing the tempestuous charm and adventure of the track. Its successor is similarly honed but far more physically challenging with its vindictive rhythms and riffs, not forgetting breath. Of course things shift and evolve, the song also slipping into spellbinding moments of vocal and sonic radiance, these at times stemming the tide of hostility like momentary oases in a challenging journey whilst providing their own fresh exploration of the lyrical and emotional exploration. As in its predecessor, it is thoroughly engrossing though occasionally heavy going trying to explore all on offer but with time the songs just get bigger and more impressive as they eventually share their extensive realms.

Not Within the Stone blows a creative wind washed in post and progressive rock daring around a black metal scowl. This gripping fusion smothers a doom seeded gait but by now expectantly also embraces bold flames of contagious hooks, virulent grooves, and inhospitable intensity into the creative melting pot to heavily pleasing effect. Once more ears and thoughts are bullied and rubbed raw whilst kept firmly engrossed in the uncompromising collusion of contrasts that also emerge in the outstanding Felix Culpa (Theodicy Corrupted), a smooth seducing ingrained in a ferociously ravishing volcano of sound and enmity.

The shorter instrumental trespass of Das Gelächter Gottes is a cold dystopian respite next, luring the imagination towards the opening melancholic serenade of Paradise in Flames. A fire of emotional and sonic unrest, the track restrains from erupting into the inferno expected, seven of its nine evocative minutes having passed to inspire and incite before things spew vocal and physical lava, though that again comes with the spellbinding touch of the violin and Dalla Nebbia’s creative bravery to leave only a want for more.

A final instrumental caress closes the album, The Silent Transition a melody driven kiss on the senses wrapped in ever potent shadows and shaped by the open individual prowess of Dalla Nebbia. It is a fine conclusion to a release words barely scratch the surface of. Felix Culpa will not be for all, at times being a real test for many including some black and extreme metal fans, though only in a good way. Fair to say though for all wanting something bold and original which pushes their boundaries as much as the music they have a passion for, a release that works their bodies and thoughts for a constant unveiling of new rewards with each plunge into its depths, then Felix Culpa and Dalla Nebbia is very worthy of a visit.

Living up to its name in so many ways, Possession is an occultist waltz with the devil, black metal fuelled rock ‘n’ roll which just gets more compelling and adventurous track by track. The latest album from Polish metallers Deep Desolation, the release offers five tracks which devours ears and in turn imagination as black and doom metal gets entangled in psychedelic and progressive enterprise, all around blasphemous and challenging intent.

Deep Desolation hails from Łódź, emerging in 2009 with their debut album Subliminal Visions coming at the beginning of 2011. That same year saw the band unite with Primal and Iugulatus for the split release Chapel Of Fear with a year later second album Rites of Blasphemy was unleashed. Well-received it showed the growth and evolution running through the band’s sound which continues and blossoms in Possession. At times the new release is not an easy listen, making no compromises for the senses with its barbarous rancor and intensity, but from start to finish, and as suggested with stronger persuasion song by song, it is one seriously fascinating and enjoyable encounter.

The quartet of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Meriat, lead guitarist Markiz, bassist Piorun, and drummer Wilku begin their insidious incantation of pestilential temptation with Bestial Mind. Opening on an almost shamanic rhythmic invitation, the track is soon a brewing tempest of sonic agitation and thickly landing beats with guitars and bass entangling in tempestuous manner and creativity as they await crawling vocals squalls. The song continues to prowl with a doom rich breath, before unlocking a canter of spicy groves and melodic hooks which soon have ears and the imagination enthralled. Never unleashing its full venomous urgency, the track continues to stroll and prowl, malevolence an oozing hue across atmosphere and voice with a leaning towards progressively honed groove metal an additional magnetic texture.

Each listen reveals a little more going on within the quickly enticing animus of sound and intent, potency echoed throughout the album and certainly in the rabid depths and intrusive endeavours within Place Of The Darkest Thoughts. No reins shackle the energy and intensity of this track, its instinct to rock ‘n’ roll feeding the cancerous intent, creative adventure, and pure ferocity within it. In time bass and guitars spill a cascade of hook loaded bait as sonic and rhythmic savagery prevails around them whilst an almost schizophrenic passage of off kilter classic metal enterprise wrong foots and thrills simultaneously.

Both Demonic Elation and The Wizard Of Overdose keep ears enthralled, thoughts intrigued, and pleasure full. The first is an intensive dark trespass of sound and heart which truly comes to life when the psychedelic imagination of the band starts to wrap and infuse its black metal canvas. Before then it is a solid encounter but once the mystical imagination invades, it becomes another impressive beast before making way for its successor and its similarly persuasive tempest ignited by melodic and psych rock invention. The core groove is pure addictiveness and as confirmed by the final song on the album, Deep Desolation is at its most striking and unique when bringing their psychedelic and often deranged imagination into the mix, something hopefully they will explore and exploit much more ahead because we will then get more triumphs like Divine Dance.

The closing track is epic; eighteen minutes plus of heavy rock ‘n’ roll blackened and twisted for a glorious escapade of extreme metal irreverence. It is easily the best track on Possession, the realisation of all the band’s attributes in craft and sound in one extensive doom leaden, sludge thick, creatively carnal rampage of fierce and compelling metal and such a success because this time it is a groove and melody rich endeavour being given a black metal and doom infusion rather than the other way round.

As mentioned Possession gets bigger and better with each passing track, its finale the major treat which alone suggests that if Deep Desolation continue down this route they have the potential to intrude on the broadest metal spotlights.

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The RingMaster

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